What Makes Life Worth Living
by gigiree123
Summary: Hinata is not the Hyuuga Heir. Instead she dedicates her life to protecting her sister. When Hanabi is kidnapped, Hinata must rely on the occasional help of a wandering samurai, Naruto Uzumaki, and his network of friends to find her sister. "Because an advantage to living for someone else is that you're prepared to die." NH -Samurai AU!
1. Paths Cross and So Do Swords

**a/n: Alrighty, I know what you're thinking...finish your other stories before you start a new one. This one will be short I promise! And Hinata-centric and I'm going to be selfish because I really, really like this AU and a friend on tumblr encouraged me. :) If it helps, I have another chapter of Reluctant in the works, so hold on SeriousSam!**

 **Chapter 1: Paths Cross and So Do Swords**

The clang of metal and against metal rings true on the heels of the rising sun. It's quick and piercing, the steely screeching of swords sliding past each other, and attacks parried in succession is deafening, and yet she manages to raise her quiet voice loud enough for him to hear past it.

"Where is Hanabi?!"

She shouts it to the heavens, her previously ghostly eyes shine with something akin to starlight and he finds that he enjoys the color more now. They're the same gray as the sky before sunrise...a silver on the precipice of brightness.

But for the life of him, he cannot imagine what sort of anger has given this tiny girl the strength to keep up with her assault.

Her question confuses him to no end, because he is simply a wandering samurai. Simply a traveling, masterless ronin who had stumbled into these lands at the absolute wrong time.

He had expected an ordinary welcome. Perhaps the call of a few merchants to check out their wares, a nearby teahouse advertising that it had the best tea in all the Western front, a few cute village girls to fawn over his tales, and maybe a night spent in an old rickety inn.

Instead he had arrived the evening before, only to find the locals in an uproar. Troops of samurai with a red flame emblazoned onto the overlapping plates of their laquered armor marched in unison across town and about the surrounding areas.

He had decided that sleeping in the forest would be preferable to getting caught up in whatever mess was brewing. He didn't like the look of these foot soldiers, swords in hand, and grim faces with creepy white eyes.

Eyes exactly like the ones burning into him at this very moment, daring him to deny her accusations.

She is tiny. She is slim and pale and looks as if a good wind could blow her in one puff to the seas beyond.

But she snarls like a lioness, and the swish of her robes and the clinking of her armor lend themselves to her ferocity. She is quick where is he slow, and knows how to follow through with his blow well enough to turn the force back on him.

He does not answer her, partly in confusion, partly in awe of her skill, and mostly because it's the crack of dawn and he was woken up by a small little swordswoman with sunflowers on her sleeves.

Her wakizashi had been drawn, gleaming dimly in the waxing sunlight, sharp point positioned right below his chin.

She had asked the same question. And then without warning pounced on him when she noticed his hand straying towards his own blade.

They crossed paths...crossed swords before either could blink, and the fight had begun as the morning dew had evaporated.

"Where. Is. My. Sister?!"

Each word is punctuated by another thrust, another push, another clang.

His blue eyes widen in understanding, and there is pity in his gaze because he knows all too well what it's like to lose someone of kin. But he cannot let down his guard just yet...cannot charm his way out of this one because something tells him that she is too angry and too driven to do much but fight.

And he does not take her accusation lightly.

"I don't know anything about that!"

He weaves and dodges, because as skilled as she is, he knows her blows aren't meant to kill and her emotion will make her misjudge sometime soon. He simply has to find the right opening.

She grunts in dissatisfaction, not happy enough with the answer he has given her. And he can't blame her because her hurt seems fresh.

"WHERE. IS MY SISTER?!"

Her blows become crazed, a little disoriented, but to his ever increasing disappointment, she is much more talented than he had thought. She dances with passion and fury, her dark hair fans out behind her with each stroke given and each blow thrown.

He needs a distraction. He needs to throw her off balance.

So he smiles as he moves his sword in a wide arc, his katana's farther reach forcing her to take a few steps back.

He smiles a grin he knows is sunny and charming and shouts over the din of their weapons.

"HELLO! MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

She falters, her mouth pops open in shock and it is enough for him to sneak past her outstretched arm, until he is close enough to see the tear tracks and the dirt that told of a long night spent in vain.

He is close enough to knock her blade from her hand, and close enough to hear the soft sigh of dismay from her pretty lips because she has lost more than this fight and she looks like she is drowning.

The beautifully crafted wakizashi falls to the earth with a sad, defeated clatter.

It looks pitifully dull now that it is no longer catching the light, and Naruto is a bit sad to see its song silenced, but it seems to echo the despair in her downward gaze.

With a grudging sigh, a borrowed 'troublesome' muttered under his breath, he sheathes his sword with a flourish and sweep of his orange sleeves.

The color is eye-catching with his movement and she blinks as if she has been staring at the sun for too long and because she was expecting a death blow, not this kind of mercy.

And ire wells up in her chest and claws at her insecurities because she refuses to be pitied for her loss, for her gender, and for her size. She is not one to be trifled with and not one who fears death, but there is also determination blazing in her heart.

A will to seek that which she deems most precious. Until then, she cannot die, and she silently thanks the heavens for this unwelcome blessing.

"You will not end me?"

The question is quiet and she chides herself for looking a gift horse so brazenly in the mouth, especially one that has just given her a reprieve on life, even if she was not aiming to end his.

He seems startled by the question and a little offended too.

She thinks confusion looks better on his face than that smile he had given her earlier.

It's more genuine.

"I-I wasn't trying to kill you...You..you started it."

And she resists the urge to roll her eyes because she hears his pout in the complaint and can see his lips pursed in malcontent, looking like a petulant child caught in the act.

She starts to laugh at that. She laughs and laughs until he wonders if she's just a little lost in her thoughts or if he's just met a crazed spirit at the crack of dawn.

The tears roll down her cheeks because ever since last night, she has been searching and feeling useless and a life that has been nothing but a greedy thief has once again stolen something from her.

She is a roiling, dancing, angry mess and her laughter devolves into sobs that she has never in her life allowed to break free.

It's only when, through her blurred sight, she sees his tanned fingers reaching for the hilt of her fallen sword, that she snaps out of it. She prepares herself.

 _Just in case…_

Is something she has learned, and when she tenses and falls back a subtle distance, he glance up at her in grudging admiration.

Slowly and making sure to have his movement be non-threatening, he hands her the sword, hilt towards her, blade towards him so she understands.

It's a peace offering, and she wonders at his kindness when she accused him blindly and angrily.

With shaking hands and bruised fingers, she closes her grip around the top of the hilt, just above his own hand.

He lets it go, a little bit of a hesitancy and appeasement in his manner, because he's never been good with crying people.

She gives him a watery, grateful smile and quickly slides the blade with a melodic swish into its pretty scabbard, the white silk wrapped around the hilt perfectly matching the silver engravings on the wood.

 _'A noble?_ ' He thinks to himself, and realizes with red embarrassment how rude he must have seemed to introduce himself earlier by shouting.

"I-I was so rude. I'm sorry."

And then she is bowing, lower than her fine robes, intricate armor, or pretty sword, would indicate she should.

Because he is simply a ronin and there isn't much more to his name than that.

He flushes at the protocol and babbles and waves away the politeness as best he can, because when she is not a roaring lioness, she is a princess with all the regal bearing expected in one such as her and she really looks cute when she's not shouting and _oh dear lord…_

He knows he's in deep trouble when she rises and smiles like sunbeams drifting through leaves, gentle and sad.

"H-hello. My name is Hyuuga Hinata...I'm sorry for trying to hurt you. Please let me make it up to you, somehow!"

* * *

It's in a small tea stop two miles down the road from the village, over tea and small, sweet cakes filled with red bean that he learns her story.

At least that which is relevant to her near crazy attack on him and anyone who had appeared suspicious around the village.

"I think the kidnapper is traveling north, and I don't have many leads, only that the kidnapper had three stripes on each cheek...like yours."

She stares down at the half-eaten pastry in her hand. She's barely touched it and he's nearly finished the whole plate, but she doesn't seem to notice.

"Wha-...I mean tha's prutty wurd…" He says around a mouthful, because he is hungry and he is tired and she is rich, so he will take eat what has been gifted to him and she owes him that much.

(And if he was a little more honest with himself, it's because he wanted to spend more time with the pretty girl who can wield a sword better than most men he has encountered.)

"E-excuse me?"

He swallows quickly, thumping his chest when the food gets stuck and he burn his throat trying to wash it down with burning hot tea.

"Oh dear! Are you okay?!" She asks in between gentle thumps to his broad back, and he is choking on crumbs and embarrassment.

"Arggh... ghhh...I-I'm o-kay…" He wheezes, and finally calms down enough to continue intelligible conversation.

"I meant to say...That's pretty weird. I don't know anyone else that has these."

He points with his thumb to his whiskers, a somewhat proud look crossing his face and making his blue eyes shine like sky.

She thinks it fits even better than confusion. But she is disheartened, because her lead has turned out to be a dead end...a handsome dead end who didn't kill her when he had the right to...but a dead end nonetheless.

"Oh.." Is her disappointed reply and a heart weary sigh escapes, traveling with the shudders that rack her body in the wake of her earlier sobs.

And again, he borrows a friend's habit and mutters 'troublesome' because he has own mission to accomplish and he can't get up in local squabbles, but his better nature is telling him to help.

"I can't help you find her...But…"

He pauses for dramatic effect, and finds it useless because her gaze sparks with hope and she is sitting straight on the edge of the bench outside the tea stop and the very flowers embroidered onto her robes seem to be blooming with her.

"Aaaah….I mean I know someone that can h-help."

And he gulps with trepidation and his heart is in his throat because she has clasped her hands around his and her expression is bright and her lips are mouthing _thank you, thank you, thank you_ and he really needs to leave before he is even more trouble.

So he does. He hands her a small piece of parchment, crinkled and smudged with red bean, but it has a name and a hope and a chance to find her sister.

She watches his back grow smaller and smaller down the left fork of the road and her heavy heart is grateful because her dead end had ended being crossed path, and a new start to finding Hanabi.

When he's disappeared into the blazing sun and she's pushed aside any feelings of sadness for his departure, she glances once more at the name on the paper.

"Inuzuka Kiba"

She makes sure her scabbard is firmly adjusted once more, smooth down her sleeves and makes sure her armor is free of crumbs before leaving with a kindly farewell to the owner of the tea house.

And she heads down right fork of the road, gripping the sheet of paper in one hand and the silk red camellia she had given to Hanabi for a birthday many years ago.

 _They're all she has left._

* * *

 ** _Wakizashi:_** a blade between 30 and 60 cm, typically worn as a companion sword along with the longer **Katana.** To wear both is the sign of a samurai, however Hinata is not a full fledged samurai, but rather more of a body guard.

 **Ronin:** A masterless samurai who is so because of a master's death or disapproval.


	2. A Hound and His Dog

**Part 2: A Hound and His Dog**

 **In which Hinata finds her hope, Kiba has reservations about his abilities, and Akamaru is a case of mistaken identity.**

 _Inuzuka Kiba_

The name is vaguely familiar, it's on the tip of her tongue, something she had heard in passing when conversing with members of the branch family.

She sounds it out, having nothing else to entertain as she treads the winding roads that crisscross the Hyuuga province. And the tepid summer breeze carries away her murmurings, drifts through the long stalks of grass and ripples the water in the rice paddies she passes.

It's lonely, because as hard as life has been on her, she still misses the camaraderie of her fellow clan swordsmen, misses the chatter of the kindly servants who had taken her under their wing, and most of all she misses Hanabi.

She misses her in a way that hurts, a physical ache in her chest that pierces just under her ribs with every beat of a weary heart. Because she is both protector and mother to the Hyuuga heiress. Both sister and confidante, teacher and friend.

Hanabi had given her purpose, and even if they had fought on occasion, it was the normal quarrel of siblings.

And long ago, when her father had abandoned her to strange hands and colder eyes, and her mother had lain gasping her last breaths on a birth bed, Hinata had stayed with the baby. Long ago, she had looked into a crib, ready to hate the creature that had stolen her mother, and then tiny fingers had gripped just one of hers, tight and small and begging.

Long ago, Hanabi became her reason for living.

And she had been spirited away right underneath her nose. What use is a guardian if they cannot protect? What use is _she_ , Hinata Hyuuga, weak and foolish as she is now?

Before the despair can overwhelm her once more, she grips the parchment stained with red bean. It's a chance and a hope she has clung onto these last few days. Her gaze drifts up and up until she sees nothing but blue sky and hot sun, and she is reminded of her wandering samurai friend and his bright eyes.

Her racing her heart is not a good sign. She needs to stop this before it blooms into something unneeded. She thinks it useless, even as she thumps her chest over her beating heart to calm it.

"Oh dear...what was the name again?"

Quickly she looks down once more at the paper,just to reassure herself that she has read the sloppy characters correctly and that she has the right pronunciation. Such a strange name...such a canid name to be sure.

And the name, however distant in her memory, has born her on silver syllables to very edge of her father's domain.

The border between the Hyuuga and Bungo provinces is fast approaching, and it is with a few more inquiries to locals that she is able to trace Uzumaki-san's friend.

It's night by the time she reaches a tiny village three miles south of Bungo's border. Her feet are aching, and her thin summer kimono is not suited for the slight chill. She has run out of food, and she is weary and her sword is heavy on her left hip.

The village is blessedly bustling, even at this time in the evening. There are warm lights peeking through the bamboo curtains and lanterns strung between houses and stores. There are families walking and couples stealing intimate caresses and old men playing shogi in a teashop.

It's a nice change of pace from the lonely hills and the quiet laughter of streams and wind.

She finds him at a small _izakaya_ at the entrance of the town, slumped in a corner, red faced and reeking of the drink.

Hinata is unsure how to proceed, and her nose is slightly wrinkled because it stinks of sake and sweat in the tiny establishment. The lighting is dim and yellow, and there's the slight sizzling of fried yakitori, but it's not enough to wash out the other smells. The din of clinking saucers and jugs and the slurred conversations are not unpleasant, but they are a bit grating on her ears.

She walks through the few men standing around, ignoring a few whistles and lewd comments with an icy composure.

There is no time to be upset.

She fidgets with the golden thread of a sunflower just peeking out through the bottom of her armor.

A deep breath settles her, and then she taps the slumbering man's shoulder.

He lifts his chin from his neck to look blearily at the intruder, drool pooling at the corner of his mouth and blood shot eyes just looking plain old mean.

She's unfazed, but is surprised to find that underneath that shaggy head of brown hair is a face as youthful and unmarred as hers...well, unmarred save for two strange red markings on his cheeks.

"Umm..Pardon the intrusion, but are you Inuzuka Kiba-san?"

Her voice is deceptively soft, and Kiba is a man used to the grating shouts of a more than rough mother and a perpetually angry sister. This girl has a high pitched gentleness to her tone, and it's enough to get him to relax because she looks polite and she looks like a small breeze could knock her down in one fell swoop.

She's pretty too, and he feels a fresh wave of shame wash over him, because he is now made fully aware that his threadbare gray haori is half open, slipping off his shoulders and stained with heaven knows what. And here she is fresh as a daisy, in pretty silver armor and fancy silk.

"I uhh...Yeah...Tha's me. Who's asking?"

And later when his thoughts are clearer and the sake has been flushed from his system, the shame will burn anew because that is the first impression he has made and it is none too impressive.

He uses the heel of his palm to wipe away the drool at the corner of his mouth, and his brows furrow because he is upset at himself for being caught unawares like this. He realizes when her hopeful expression turns crestfallen that she has taken his frown to be directed at her.

"Shit-No. I mean, fu-Oh man, I'm Kiba, yeah...Nice to meet you-?"

He offers his hand towards her in a conciliatory fashion, and is relieved when she smiles warmly and shakes it.

"Hyuuga Hinata...but please...simply Hinata is fine!"

His eyes widen and his mouth goes as slack as his grip does.

"Hyuu..Hyuuga-s-san….s-so sorry. I was so-"

He lets go of her hand to run his fingers through his unruly hair, frustration and incredulity clear on his face because he has just now noticed the red flame on her chest plate and the pretty wakizashi on her left hip. And there's no mistaking those gray eyes, not even in this lighting.

She waves her hands, tries to calm him because she hates this part of her name and the establishment has gone quiet at hearing it, a collective breath is being held.

It is all unnecessary to her, so she cuts to the chase.

"I need your help. Someone told me you could help me find my little sister."

Her eyes are earnest, and he stops his worrying because he _can't help her._ It's the reason he's in this tavern now and the reason he's been working in the fields these past few months, and the reason he can't show his face back home.

"I can't."

"Please, I really-"

"Look, I would like to, but I can't."

"I can pay whatever-"

"I SAID I CAN'T!"

His chest is heaving, and it seems his frustration has burnt through his drunken haze. She can smell the sake clearly on his warm breath as he stands up to tower over her. His fists are clenched, and there's something almost feral in the way his teeth are bared and his lip is curled.

But she has come too far to be let down so easily.

"Uzumaki-san sent me!"

And he seems to break at that, his shoulders slump and his entire length loosens, joints popping out of locked positions and for once she can see why his name is fitting, because he's starting to look like a kicked puppy.

Pity stirs her heart, and she doesn't understand why, but there's a kindred look in his glassy stare. It's one she's had many times, and she knows it to be the fog of failure.

When you have failed and dropped the lowest you can, when you are nothing and something you had once believed was within your abilities to do is something you cannot do.

She's worn the same look since before Hanabi's birth. She knows it by heart.

"He sent you?"

"Yes. He said if there's anyone that can surely help it would be you. He said you are the best tracker in-"

"Was."

"Pardon?"

"I _was_ the best tracker this side of Kyushu." He whispers, and then he notices that the bar has gone quiet, and that their business is no longer just their business.

Without thinking further, he bends down and hoists a dingy leather sack over his shoulder, grabs her wrist, and pulls her out with him into the crisp night air.

It does him some kind of good, because for the first time he seems fully aware of his surroundings and the girl who has traveled so far to find him.

Hinata is impatient, and her sister is maybe going farther and farther away. She will not wait for his crisis to be over if hers has only just begun. So she pulls her arm from his grip, rounds on him and with all her fury, grips his shirt in her tiny hands because she _needs_ him like she needs the medicines that keep her alive...unwanted, but necessary.

"Help. Me. Inuzuka-san…please. She's the only person I have..."

The last words are soft, begging and on the verge of cracking. Her grip loosens as she wilts, and even her armor seems dull. The fight is all out of her, and the same look of failure that she had seen in him, he sees now.

He gives in, because it seems like despite her failure, she's still fighting and clawing her way back up to right it, and it's a much braver approach to life than the one he has taken. Admiration makes him say...

"I'll...I'll try. But I'm not the best anything anymore, and I don't know why that idiot sent you here. But I'll try."

Her grateful stare is a little too sincere for comfort, and her naive demeanour makes him wonder just how long it had been since she had last traveled far from home and creature comforts.

"Alright, don't get sappy on me! First we need to find Akamaru!"

"Akamaru, is he-?"

"My partner, yeah."

"Oh. How nice!"

Her tone is a bit bewildered, gentle, but bewildered... because although it wasn't something unheard of, it was still something kept behind closed doors and raised hands. To her, it didn't really matter who one loved or spent the nights with. And it wasn't uncommon, for boys apprenticed to samurai masters to have this kind of arrangement. She remembers her cousin Neji explaining hastily something about brotherly bonds and undying loyalty.

He had been very much red in the face after that, and refused to speak on the subject anymore. It was not a point of contention for Hinata either. It was their business, and for all she cared, the more consentual affection in the world, the better it was. She seemed to be _unique_ in her views, so it was the first time something like this had come up so openly.

She waits, hand on the hilt of her sword and a patient smile on her face, because she is a welcoming person and she has hope.

Without further speech, Kiba's thumb and index finger are in his mouth, and he lets out a high pitched whistle through his teeth.

The sound can be barely heard over the chatter of the night crowds or the bustle of the town, but then the people part because there is something very large, and very white bounding down the main street and children giggle and a few women scream.

A bark resounds and it's with dawning horror that Hinata realizes what she thought was a small horse was a giant dog.

"OH MY!"

She leaps back, just as the massive hulking form skids to a less than graceful stop onto its haunches, and sharp fangs glitter menacingly in the light of the red lanterns above them.

Kiba smiles, hiding his muffled laughter behind a raised hand.

"Hinata, meet Akamaru."

And then Akamaru's face falls open into a doggy grin, panting tongue hanging sloppily. His long tail wags faster and faster until it is nothing but a blur hitting Kiba's leg in the process and the friendly _whack, whack_ convinces her that it's perfectly safe.

Out of habit, she places her hand palm out and waits patiently as Akamaru shoves his warm, moist nose into it and snuffles eagerly to catch this new person's scent.

It's when his large tongue pokes out and starts lapping at her fingers excitedly that she becomes comfortable enough to dig her hands through the thick soft fur behind his dark ears and bury her head in his sinewy neck.

There's power underneath all that fluff, and she thanks her stars that Akamaru seems to be as friendly a dog as they come.

"So...Akamaru is your dog?" She asks after a bit of petting, and Kiba looks very offended at her question.

"My dog? No he's my partner!"

And her face heats up, and she slowly realizes her mistake and where her thoughts had lead to and she wonders at herself.

"Oh...I thought when you m-meant partner, you meant he was your...your..."

"NO! Ewww, for the sake of my sanity, Hinata! NOT LIKE THAT! He's not even human!"

Kiba is banging his head against his hands, hoping to knock out the image because he had seen her embarrassed flush and heard her question and this was mortifying. Would the earth just swallow him up, eat him and his misery so perhaps in the afterlife he could maintain at least a crumb of dignity?

And even Akamaru has placed his huge head on his outstretched paws and is whining as if he is in great pain.

"I'm..I'm so sorry! I just assumed and oh this is so embarrassing, and OH MY HEAVENS!"

Hinata has become a bumbling mess, her hands hide her face as do her heavy bangs, and it's only Kiba's bubbling laughter that incites her to stop. And she can help it, it's infectious and loud and boisterous and reminds her a little bit of Uzumaki-san's laugh.

So she starts laughing too and soon the two are a nearly toppled over pair, clutching their ribs until their guffaws have died down to a couple of giggles and snorts and Akamaru still has his doggy grin and all is okay for the moment.

And the lights and stars coalesce into something beautiful and new through her teary eyes, because she is happy and Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru are another crossed path she has found.

* * *

 **a/n Wakashuudo-** A structured arrangement found in the samurai apprencite-master relationship in which same-sex affection and action where considered to be a normal part of building bonds. It was done on agreement by both master and apprentice and was deemed to be good for building loyalty and stronger bonds.


	3. Neither Here Nor There

**Neither Here Nor There**

 **In which the title refers to Tenten's name, Kiba has no clue how to use a sword and Naruto is frustrated. Omake is kind of NSFW. You have been warned!**

"Come on Hinata, your lips are flapping but I ain't getting any sound."

The only thing more pitiful than the begging note of his comment is Akamaru's low whine.

The series of unintelligible grumbles coming from her lips continue. There's only that and the rattling of her sword hitting her side that comes from her person. And even then, she is trained so well, that her steps are quiet, and the _click clack_ is muffled by her steady grip on the hilt. Even the chirping birds and rustling wind of the sunny day seem to be louder than her.

She stares resolutely ahead, gaze fierce and brows furrowed as she struggles to maintain her usually warm control over her expressions.

"Hinaaataaa….." Kiba calls her name once more, and it's the long drawn out last syllable that breaks the proverbial horse's back. She whirls around, quick as silver and her glare is just as sharp.

"Yes, Inuzuka-san?"

Kiba winces because her tone is cutting, like steel on flesh and he is sorry and she is angry, and a new friend is one you would least like to make angry. He decides that now would not be the best time to tell her she can call him Kiba, just Kiba. She is mad and has a right to be, and they've only known each other for the span of two weeks, but she is firmly on her way to becoming one of his favorite people. It might not be the same on her end, however, especially in light of last night's events.

He thinks to himself, a bit morose, that that's all he's good at. Messing things up and letting down others…

But he's trying right now, by heavens, he is trying and he would fix this. Now all he had to do was tell her that-

"You're going the wrong way."

Without another word, she pivots on a tiny heel and goes in the direction his finger is pointed in. There's no bend to her spine and now relenting of her glare. Just a slight sigh of embarrassment on her lips and Kiba decides that one more apology should be okay.

"Hinata, I'm really sorry okay. I can pay for the damages. It's just you were shivering and it was cold and the fire was low. I didn't know you weren't supposed to...I..I'm just sorry."

And Hyuuga Hinata has never been one for grudges. She'd forgiven her father for the brand on the back of her neck and forgiven Kami-sama for her weakening heart and frail body. These are transient things that must be lived with.

So forgiving Kiba was simple. It was simply the matter of her sword being a last gift from her mother that made it all the more difficult. And where sentimentality reigns, forgiveness is often hard to grow, despite earlier habit.

" _Grow strong. You can carry this and be strong Hinata. Strong in your own way."_

And she's long learned that being strong enough to forgive has a merit all its own.

"It's okay, Inuzuka-san. There's nothing to forgive. I mean, you couldn't really know that a sword is not meant to fell a tree, right?"

He nods eagerly, his mouth slack with disbelief because that had been the last thing he had expected her to say. He stops gripping the sleeves of his gray haori, and makes a mental note to treat her to some sweets once they reach town.

Sensing the dissipating tension, Akamaru decides to circle the two companions, bounding from one to the other with his doggy grin and wagging tail.

Hinata's expression brightens as she threads her fingers through his mounds of fur, comfort and ease making everything seem like the sun was glinting off of it like gold.

She sighs.

"I'm sorry too. You were just doing it to keep us warm. "

She bows her head slightly and her voice is muffled behind her curtains of hair. There is shame because she has let something so material bother her, and it is not her way nor in line with _the way_. Her life was signed too short for her to waste time with minor nuisances. And a friend is a friend is a friend.

Kiba's garbled response is barely comprehensible, because he cannot stand to see her so sad on his account and it was his fault for not asking in the first place, but Hinata is exactly the wrong kind of stubborn in matters like this and he knows his protests will do no good once he sees her expression.

So instead he smiles slightly.

"I'll call it even if you call me Kiba."

"Kiba…?"

She tastes the name on her lips and it reminds her of open fields and blazing fires and fuzzy dogs and fierce loyalty, which are things that hadn't come to mind the first time she had looked at his name on red bean stained paper. But back then, he was nothing but a dawning hope and a hesitant recommendation.

Now...now he is hope, friendship and companionship. Things that are much welcomed where before there had only been laughing streams and singing stars.

But she is still a Hyuuga and manners are as much a part of her as the dulled sword at her side.

"Okay. Kiba-kun it is."

He spends the rest of the way to town trying to take off the _-kun_ from the end of his name.

It doesn't work.

* * *

The weapons master is a surprisingly young girl, perhaps a year or so older than the two of them.

She is dressed in a strange ensemble, a pretty high collar and fitted blouse reminiscent of fashion from the continent. It's when she twirls a shiny shuriken between her slim fingers that Hinata finds herself frozen in awestruck admiration.

Tenten is her name, and it doesn't stop Kiba from making a joke or two about where she's from.

"So, where exactly are you from? Because here and there is kind of vague, eh? Perhaps, heaven?"

Hinata gives an apologetic shake of her head and Akamaru sets his heavy head on his paws because his partner is a fool and likes flirting with cute girls no matter the situation.

But Tenten is good natured and waves off his advances with a wise little quip every so often, and her disapproving look once she's seen what he's done to Hinata's wakizashi is enough to shame him into good behavior.

"Fools with clumsy claws should never be allowed to handle a weapon."

Her grumbling is reminiscent of Hinata's and it has none of his friend's gentleness to curb the biting tone. Tenten's love for fine weaponry exceeds her regard for people and Hinata's blade is of exceptional craftsmanship.

"There's so much _love_ in here, Hyuuga-san! I mean, look at the detailing on the scabbard alone! And this metal, it's so precious. The sword practically sings when I swing it!"

The tears in Hinata's adoring eyes and her clasped hands tells him he's lost her to the shuriken girl.

"It does, doesn't it? My mother had it made for me when I was younger."

Soon Tenten's sleeves are rolled up to her elbows as she lays the sword on the large whetstone at the back of her shop. The room is dim and sweltering with the heat of the furnace. The summer sun has no reach in here, but a slight sheen of sweat coats her brows before she has even started smoothing the blunted edge.

Hinata and Kiba are shooed out of the back room when one of them tips over a pot of nails and one goes straight through Kiba's straw sandals.

The dull _shashing_ of a metal file over the wakizashi eventually fades away as they return to the front.

Kiba takes the time to admire the other weapons on display, fixating on a pair of glistening _kama_ , the deep cherry wood of their grips smooth and their sickle blades sharp.

He hefts them into his hands, grunting in satisfaction as he feels their sturdy weight.

"Do you know how to use them?" Hinata asks, eagerness coiled into taut lines of her calves as she bounces on the balls of her feet.

"I...Not really. Just for farming stuff. But these are way nicer than the ones we use for rice."

"I see."

And there's a contemplative spark that he does not like in her gray eyes. She places a finger to her chin, humming thoughtfully.

"I'll teach you."

"What?!" He says a little too loud, and looks down apologetically at Akamaru napping in the corner near the counter.

Akamaru twitches in his slumber and gazes up at Kiba with an almost disdainful look. Then he snorts and falls back into sleep, the lazy summer heat making it the most welcome option at the moment.

"Sorry. It's just, timing and stuff like that. I know how to- I mean I can fight. I just...not since the last time, I don't think I can do any good."

There's a story behind his words and Hinata knows that it is one just as painful as hers. His cheeks are drawn and his face has become the tiniest bit paler, though it's hard to tell with his skin tanned from working the fields. She notices his troubled gaze drift every now and then to Akamaru, and it is hollow.

She tries to bridge the silence.

"I failed so many times too. I was overconfident. And for that, I lost my sister."

"How do you-"

"I'm going to find her. I'm going to find her and bring her home. I gave my word, and I will never break it."

And she says this with such a concrete finality that Kiba hopes and Kiba dreams that he can one day too be so confident in an outcome.

"So you're trying. But what if-"

"What if has yet to pass, Kiba-kun."

And she tugs at his limp sleeve in an awkward attempt to comfort him, because his _what if_ had come to pass and it has weighed heavy on him.

"Uzumaki-san and I believe very much in your abilities."

Her smile becomes laced with a certain softness, and her cheeks flush and Kiba's mood is lightened because the tiny girl with sunflowers on her sleeves seems to have a crush on a man who personifies the sun itself.

"Naruto huh? Gosh, you've surprisingly got more in common than I would've thought."

"W-What?"

"Nothing. It's just he's tried to encourage me in the same way after…"

He trails off, and Hinata decides that prying any further would be crossing a line she has no permission to even tip toe.

"O-okay...so, can I teach you? Logically, I cannot defend us both at all times, and it would be really nice to have back up sometimes?"

Her question ends on a high note, and the sweet hesitancy of her request and her earnest support reminds him of home. He says yes without another thought.

* * *

"Remember, widen your stance. Keep your body lowered!"

And then there's a faint _woosh_ as he swings the right sickle, then the left. Then the right. Then the left as he steps forward.

There's a feral grace to his movement and Hinata has to admit that he has nearly nicked her several times and he has picked it up quick.

Tenten watched from the sidelines, occasionally shouting a few pointers.

It's only when Akamaru is introduced to the spar that Hinata sees what has been missing, and she catches a glimpse of why he is a partner and not a pet.

The two move together, weaving in and out of each other's paths until they are nothing but two parts of a whole. A terrifying whole that winds her and makes her use every ounce of nimbleness in her footwork to avoid sharp sickles and bared fangs. They are wind and forest, tripping, ripping and snarling to disarm her.

But they forget that she is starlight and is still far more experienced than they and they are still rusty from disuse, cogs frozen in sorrow for years. It's taken sun and star to awaken them again.

They fight for each other. Protect and conquer because life is precious with the other one in it, and Hinata remembers.

" _Live for her. Fight for her. You're advantage when living for her is that you are prepared to die."_

"Everything. Everything I have for her." She mutters, and Hanabi's wide eyes and reaching hands pass through her mind's eye like pain. It is blinding and with a silent step, has reached around Akamaru's snapping jaws and stepped into Kiba's defense.

A quick upward swipe and his _kama_ are flying away, clattering on the small courtyard stone. The metallic ringing beats in time with Tenten's impressed claps.

They are both sweating, panting and looking positively winded, but there's a distant echo in Hinata's eyes and she is flying away, arcing through memories like the kama.

"Hinata...you're...really...good." Kiba says in between pants.

Akamaru's lip has fallen to cover his fangs and his snout has opened into his doggy grin again, and Hinata is awoken from her thoughts when he shoves his muzzle into the palm not holding the sword.

She laughs, but it is breathless and Kiba sees that kindred look again.

"Akamaru...Akamaru had a brother."

And he's no longer looking at her, but at the ground where his fallen kama rest.

She waits and Tenten listens intently, because there was talent in those clumsy claws and a sadness nesting on this boy's shoulders.

"Naruto and I are from the same village. A few years ago, a group of us left to...to find a friend."

Akamaru's whine is supportive in a way, and he returns to his partner's side because he recognizes that tone and remembers his brother.

"I took Akamaru and Shiromaru with me. Supposed to be the best trackers this side of Kyushu. Instead, we ended up with a lost friend and one partner less. I haven't been home since."

"Kiba-kun, it' o-"

"IT'S NOT OKAY! I wasn't...wasn't strong enough to protect _him_. Wasn't good enough to find our friend and wasn't strong enough to save my partner!"

His expression is shadowed, his form trembling and Tenten is blessedly silent. It's only when he feels Hinata's thin, calloused fingers pressing one of the kama into his hands that he realizes he is teary eyed.

She says nothing. Does not look into his face, but merely curls his fingers around the smooth handle of the of sickle and places his other one on a worried Akamaru's head.

And he is grateful and quiet because someone who has failed like him is telling him to keep on fighting.

* * *

 **Omake:**

The heat is nearly unbearable, but it's only tiny calloused fingers that rake across his back and the feel of her like a wave across a tide. She blooms, like the blossoms on her sleeves, and she shines like the armor discarded in a heap somewhere in the room.

There is nothing but he and her, and they burn together in a crescendo.

She rises and falls with every turn of his hips, and he grips her tighter and tighter, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

He smells the brine of sea and honey in her hair, and he can't see her gray eyes, but he knows they are glittering like stars.

And just as she heaves and they reach the crest of a wave, his eyes snap open.

"CRAP. NOT AGAIN!"

Naruto wakes to find himself sweaty, sticky and frustrated in a small hut by the sea. And he tries to go back to sleep, plagued once again by dreams of a small swordswoman with sunflowers on her sleeves.

* * *

 **a/n thank you to everyone who reviewed this story! If it seems disjointed, it's because it's meant to be told in fragments! The omake is canon! for this though!**

 **kama-** a pair of small sickles used in farming but also popular weapons for samurai and standing armies. There are martial arts techniques for proper use, but they are definitely close range weapons. They seemed like the closest things to actual claws without being too much historically inaccurate.

 ** _the way_** \- Hinata follows Bushido code, as she has been brought up as a swordswoman following her failure to thrive as a child.

 **Tenten's name-** Means here and there, but Kiba is also playing on the syllables, because ten sounds like the a character used in the word for heaven tengoku and in the word for angel, tenshi.

Of note, I tried to make this as accurate as possible for geography. They are currently on Kyushu, the southern most island of Japan, and the reason is because when I looked at a map of the old provinces, Hyuuga was a real one! And it was on Kyushu, hence why we start there and move north!


End file.
